What does meter mean when used to describe poetry?
I am supposed to find the meter of this poem, but I'm not really sure what meter is. Can someone help me please =)?
DEATH is like the insect	
  Menacing the tree,	
Competent to kill it,	
  But decoyed may be.	
  
Bait it with the balsam,	        5
  Seek it with the knife,	
Baffle, if it cost you	
  Everything in life.	
  
Then, if it have burrowed	
  Out of reach of skill,	        10
Ring the tree and leave it,—	
  ’T is the vermin’s will.